


Little Help from a Little Friend

by nychus



Series: Growing Up Citadel [7]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Baby!Ignis, Baby!Noctis, Fluff, Gen, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-25 21:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13221801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nychus/pseuds/nychus
Summary: Noctis knows the only way to stop one best friend from having nightmares is to let his other best friend help.





	Little Help from a Little Friend

Life was fairly routine for Noctis. He’d wake up for breakfast. Mornings were either spent playing or in lessons (if he could manage it, they’d be lessons with Ignis), then lunch (always with his father on Wednesdays and any other time Regis could get away), afternoon nap, and then Ignis was around to play.

When Ignis didn’t show up one day to play, Noctis felt like his entire world was crumbling.

Near tears, he asked Marguerite, “Where’s Iggy?” when she came in with a snack.

“I’m afraid he isn’t feeling well, so Master Eben sent him home,” the nurse said.

“Will he be here tomorrow?”

“Doubtful, you know how long you were sick last time. It may be a few days.”

Noctis frowned. It would be the first time he hadn’t seen Ignis since the young boy came to live in Insomnia. But he knew Marguerite was right, he was sick forever not long ago.

The frown didn’t leave once the snack was eaten and Marguerite only managed to get him to smile when she suggested they make a get well card for Ignis. Noctis liked the idea and jumped to get his crayons.

Ignis didn’t return the following day or the next. On the fourth day of no Ignis, Noctis was becoming extremely worried.

“But is he going to be okay?” he kept asking his nurse. Marguerite did her best to placate the prince, but nothing she said seemed to do any good.

“Stupeo says that his fever is really high and he isn’t sleeping well,” Marguerite explained. “Fever induced nightmares make it difficult to recover because your body isn’t getting the rest it needs to heal itself.”

“Nightmares?” Noctis asked and Marguerite nodded. The prince’s eyes suddenly lit up, “I know how to help! He needs Carbs!”

“Carbs?” Marguerite asked, watching Noctis run to his bed and pull the well-loved stuffed animal from it.

“Yeah! Carbs protects me from bad dreams. He could do the same for Iggy!” Noctis said, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. It was clear the young prince was sure that this would work.

“But didn’t you give him Ton Ton to do that?”

The look that Noctis set upon the nurse was one that clearly said ‘are you really that dumb?’ but his words weren’t quite so crass. “No. Ton Ton doesn’t protect dreams. Only Carbs. Dad says he’s always protected us. I’m sure he’ll do the same for Iggy if I ask.”

“Are you willing to spend a night without Carbs?” Noctis, as far as Marguerite was aware, hadn’t slept a single night without holding tight to the little animal. If Carbs wasn’t with him come bed time, he’d turn the room upside down to find him.

“Yes.”

For a moment, Marguerite didn’t say anything. She watched the determined boy and knew that he wasn’t going to let this go. With a smile, she said she would see what she could do about getting Carbs to Ignis.

~*~*~*~*~

Regis loved his son and loved that said son had a friend such as Ignis. But Regis wasn’t quite sure he was ready to put his son’s health at risk to deliver a stuffed animal. Still, he called Stupeo to ask after Ignis and was told that Ignis should no longer be contagious. At least that’s what the doctor had said.

Stupeo welcomed the king and prince into his home, apologizing for its slight disarray. The kitchen was a bit of a disaster area because Stupeo was doing his best to find something that Ignis could and would eat.

“I do apologize,” Stupeo said as they entered, “but Ignis is sleeping and I’d prefer not to wake him up.”

“That’s okay,” Noctis said, hugging Carbs close. “I just need to put Carbs with him.”

Regis bent down to be eye level with Noctis. “Son, are you sure you want to leave Carbs here? I know how much he means to you and I worry you won’t be happy come your own bedtime.”

“Maggie said Iggys’ having nightmares and that he can’t get better because of them. Carbs said he’d help Iggy.” The statement was said with all the same seriousness of a doctor talking about a patient. The response earned him a kind smile from both men and Stupeo pointed the prince towards Ignis’s room.

The door squeaked just a little as Noctis slowly pushed it open and then closed again once he was inside. Ignis’s room was really dark and it took a moment for Noctis’s eyes to adjust. It was a small room, enough space for a twin bed, a desk, and a bookshelf. The desk and bookshelf took up the wall on the left side of the room while the bed was tucked into the right side corner. Next to the bed was a little nightstand that currently held a small lamp, a tissue box, and some used tissues.

Ignis didn’t so much as twitch as Noctis tiptoed close to the bed. Even in the darkness of the room, Noctis could see sweat beading on Ignis’s forehead. His eyebrows were knotted and his mouth set in a frown. Noctis wondered if he was currently having a bad dream.

When a small, disquieted noise exited Ignis’s mouth, Noctis was positive he was having a bad dream and he put Carbs on the nightstand.

“Help him, Carbs,” Noctis whispered. “I know you can.”

Whatever confirmation he was waiting the animal to give, he got. With a stern nod of understanding, Noctis took one more look at Ignis (this time he noticed that his friend was holding his stuffed tonberry close) and went to leave the room. As he exited, he took one more glance at Carbs before shutting door and returning to his father.

~*~*~*~*~

To say Noctis was grumpy the next day would be an understatement. Without Carbs to protect him, Noctis kept waking up to every strange noise and worried that some monster was going to get him. He tried sleeping with a few of his other stuffed animals, but none of them were as good to him as Carbs.

He missed his friend, but he knew Carbs was where he needed to be. He’d have both of his best friends back soon because of how amazing Carbs was.

The second morning after Noctis had left Carbs at Ignis’s bedside, he was woken by the feeling of something crawling on his bed. Cracking an eye open (but ready to shut them tight should they be a monster – the whole ‘if I can’t see you, you can’t see me’ rule was totally in effect) to see who it was, he was surprised to find a fuzzy, light blue face in his own.

“Carbs!” Noctis cried, grabbing the little animal and hugging him tightly. Behind Carbs sat Ignis who had a smile on his face. “Iggy!” Noctis’s next trick was to lunge at Ignis and hug him close. “Carbs helped you?”

“He did, Noct,” Ignis said. He sounded tired and he was still stuffed up, but he was there and that was all that mattered. “He protected my sleep and allowed me to get better.”

The prince held his carbuncle even closer and pushed his face into the fuzzy head. “I knew he’d do it!”

“Thank you, for lending him to me,” Ignis said. “I’d probably still be in bed without his help.”

Noctis just beamed. He was relieved that Carbs was back in his hands and Ignis was out of bed. “Did Ton Ton mind?”

“Ton Ton appreciated,” Noctis gave him the look he always gave when Ignis used a big word he didn’t understand, “was glad for his help.”

The smile on Noctis’s face got even bigger.

“Do you have to go to school?” Noctis asked.

Ignis shook his head. “No. I’m still really weak and tired, so uncle doesn’t want me to do much. He says I can stay with you and read or watch tv, but nothing more.”

“Okay!” Noctis said, pulling Ignis from the bed and to the couch in front of the television. “We’ll just sit here all day and do nothing!”

And that is what they did. Marguerite brought in meals, checked Ignis’s temperature, and made sure he was taking his medicine before leaving them again. By the time Stupeo came to collect his nephew, they found the two little boys curled up on the couch asleep with a stuffed carbuncle between them.


End file.
